Saturday, 8 October 2016

Considering terrain

For those of us constantly swapping from one genre or
rule set to another on a regular basis, and complicating matters even more by actually
going out and travelling to other gamer gatherings, the well-known issue of
transportable and multi-purpose terrain will be familiar dilemma. Mobilescape
Adventures might have the solution for you…

It’s a familiar issue for role-playing or campaign
type games where a diverse set of scenarios based in varied
landscapes and locales is required. For example, our long-running In Her Majesty’s Name campaign includes distinct settings such as a
Venetian Piazza, a desert town in the US, a Hungarian Cathedral and a hilltop
village in Portugal!

Unfortunately, it’s more often the case that my heady plans
for an elaborate campaign, or even just a single scenario, are often stymied
when confronted by the reality of my limited terrain collection! Yes, I've various standalone terrain pieces that have served me well over the years and a couple of elaborate, dedicated boards (Obsession for example) but they aren't exactly easy to transport! I fall victim
to this on a regular basis.

Allowing my imagination and enthusiasm at the start
of a particular project to be thwarted sooner or later by the realisation that
I actually don’t have enough of a particular type of terrain or structure to do the scenario
any justice! I then either have to rely on my opponents or, more often, conjure
up plans to build some elaborate terrain board that simply stalls the whole
project. The IHMN campaign being the perfect example this!

One solution could be a current Kickstarter from US based new
start-up Mobilescsape Adventures who are looking to develop and produce mobile
3D terrain compatible with most of your favourite role playing games. These
will be made from high quality board elements assembled via clear plastic bases
which can quickly and easily be swapped out as the scene or dungeon map
changes.

"Our fantasy tabletop terrain is perfect for roleplaying game
systems like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, etc. We
provide simple structures such as pathways, trees, rocks, bushes, to
impressive man-made structures like cottages, stone houses and towers. The best
part is there is absolutely no cutting, gluing or painting involved!"

Our recent Frostgravemini-campaign utilised tiles appropriated from Decent and a
few door features. Similarly for some SoBH games where I've used 'tile n' clip'
terrain. And it all worked pretty well too!

The card and clip terrain isn’t a new idea
– there have been similar designs and products over the years (remember Terraclips?) - although these tend to focus
on a particular theme, locale or dungeon with options for expansion. Mobile Adventures
have role-playing games in mind but of course this fits equally well with skirmish
level games.

They are looking to produce a broad, versatile range of reversible terrain
elements that can quickly build up to provide players options for quick, reconfigurable
boards that can serve many roles. And being light and flat, can also be easily
transported. From my experience, this type of system is pretty handy to
have in your terrain arsenal! So I recommend having a quick look at the Mobilescape Kickstarter!

View from the Battleshed Barracks

Welcome!

This is my irreverent and occasionallyindulgently narrative journal of my tabletop wargaming and board game misadventures.

A chronicle of my complete lack of generalship marshalling wee miniatures across space and time.

I dabble in most aspects of our hobby - fantasy, SF, historical and everything in between. I moan about my endless scenery and painting projects and I'm not afraid to turn household junk into remote bastions against the Dark Hordes...

The Battleshed

I'm lucky to have a large man-shed, easily accommodating a 8'x4' gaming table, where my fellow wargamers can relax and unleash their armies - regardless the weather outside and the spider count inside!